Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM's address at the National Rozgar Mela
Namaskar !
Friends,
Today is the auspicious festival of Baisakhi. I congratulate all the countrymen on the occasion of Baisakhi. On this joyous festival today, more than 70 thousand youngsters have got government jobs in various departments of the central government. My heartiest congratulations to all the youngsters like you and your family members! I extend my best wishes for your bright future.
Friends,
Our government is committed to providing the right opportunities to the talent and zeal of the youth to fulfil the vision of a developed India. Besides the initiative of the central government, the process of providing government jobs is going on at a rapid pace in all NDA and BJP-ruled states from Gujarat to Assam and UP to Maharashtra. Yesterday, appointment letters were handed over to more than 22 thousand teachers in Madhya Pradesh. This National Rozgar Mela is also a proof of our commitment towards the youth.
Friends,
Today India is the fastest growing economy in the world. The whole world is facing recession after Covid. The economy of most of the countries is continuously slumping. But amidst all this, the world is viewing India as a 'bright spot'. Today's New India, with the new policies and strategies which are now being followed, has opened the doors of new possibilities and new opportunities in the country. There was a time when India used to work with a reactive approach in terms of technology or infrastructure. Since 2014, India has adopted a proactive approach. As a result, this third decade of the 21st century is creating opportunities for employment and self-employment, which could not even be imagined earlier. Today, many such sectors have opened up in front of the youth, which never existed 10 years back. We have the example of startups in front of us. Today there is tremendous enthusiasm among the youth of India regarding startups. According to a report, startups have created more than 40 lakh direct and indirect jobs. So is the drone industry. Today, be it in the agriculture sector, defence sector, surveys related to infrastructure or the Swamitva scheme, the demand for drones is increasing continuously. That's why many youngsters are joining the fields of drone manufacturing and drone flying. You must also have seen how the country's sports sector has been revived in the last 8-9 years. Today, new stadiums are being built across the country and new academies are being opened up. There is a need for coaches, technicians and support staff. Doubling the sports budget in the country is also creating new opportunities for the youth.
Friends,
The thinking and approach of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is much more than just adopting 'Swadeshi' and 'Vocal for Local'. This is not a matter of limited scope. The 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan' is a campaign to generate crores of new employment opportunities in India from villages to cities. Today, everything from modern satellites to semi-high-speed trains are being manufactured in India itself. In the last 8-9 years, more than 30 thousand new and safe LHB coaches have been made in the country. The thousands of tonnes of steel used in their construction, the different products used have created thousands of new employment opportunities in the entire supply chain. I will also give you an example of India's toy industry. Jitendra Singh ji also mentioned about it. For decades, children in India played with toys imported from abroad. Neither the quality of these toys was good, nor were these toys made keeping Indian children in mind. But nobody ever paid attention to it. We fixed quality parameters for imported toys and started promoting our indigenous industry. As a result, within 3-4 years, the toy industry was revived, and many new employment opportunities were created. Another approach which dominated the defence sector in our country for decades was that defence equipment could only be imported. These equipment could be brought only from abroad. We did not trust the manufacturers of our country. Our government has also changed this approach. Our forces have prepared a list of more than 300 such equipment and weapons, which will now be manufactured in India and will be procured from the Indian industry. Today India exports defence equipment worth Rs 15 thousand crores to foreign countries. This has created thousands of employment opportunities.
Friends,
You should never forget one more thing. When the country gave us the opportunity to serve in 2014, most of the mobile phones sold in India used to be imported. We gave incentives to increase local production. Had the pre-2014 situation prevailed today we would have spent lakhs of crores of rupees on foreign exchange. But now, we are not only catering to the domestic needs but also exporting mobile phones, delivering to the other countries of the world. Consequently, thousands of new employment opportunities have also been created.
Friends,
There is another side of employment generation, and that is the investment made by the government in infrastructure projects. Our government is known for the fast pace of work in infrastructure projects. When the government spends on capital expenditure, a wide variety of infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports and new buildings are created. In infrastructure development, not only human resources like engineers, technicians, accountants, labourers are required but also all types of equipment, and steel, cement and many such things are required. During our government's regime, there has been a four-fold increase in capital expenditure in the last 8-9 years. As a result, both new employment opportunities and income of the people have increased. Let me give you the example of Indian Railways. In the seven decades prior to 2014, around 20,000 kilometres of rail lines were electrified. In the last 9 years, we have completed the electrification of about 40 thousand kilometres of railway lines. Before 2014, only 600 metres of new metro lines were constructed in a month, just 600 metres! Today, we are laying new metro lines of about 6 kilometres every month. At that time, the calculation was done in metres, but today the calculation is being done in kilometres. In 2014, less than 70 districts had gas network expansion in the country. Today this number has increased to 630 districts. Compare 70 districts with the 630 districts! Till 2014, the length of roads in rural areas was just less than 4 lakh km. Today this figure has also increased to more than 7.25 lakh kilometres. You can imagine the kind of impact it has when the roads connect with the villages. Due to this, employment starts to generate at a rapid pace in the entire ecosystem.
Friends,
Similar work has been done in the aviation sector of the country. Till 2014 there were 74 airports in the country, today it has increased to 148. We all know the kind of staff that is needed in airport operations. So, you would have probably guessed that these many new airports have also created thousands of new opportunities in the country. And you have seen that recently Air India has placed an order to buy a record number of airplanes. Many other Indian companies will also follow suit. That is, in the coming days, a large number of new opportunities will be created in this sector from catering to inflight services, from maintenance to on-ground handling. Similar progress is also taking place in our port sector. With the development of the sea coast and the development of our ports, the cargo handling at our ports has doubled as compared to before, and the time taken for this has now been halved. This major change has also created a large number of new opportunities in the port sector.
Friends,
The health sector of the country is also turning into a great example of the employment generation. India had less than 400 medical colleges in 2014, but today there are 660 medical colleges. In 2014, the number of undergraduate medical seats was around 50 thousand only but today more than 1 lakh seats are available. Today, we are getting double the number of doctors who pass the examination. Due to the Ayushman Bharat scheme, many new hospitals and clinics have been set up in the country. That is, every infrastructure related project is ensuring growth in generating employment and self-employment.
Friends,
To give a boost to the rural economy, the government is creating FPOs, providing financial assistance of lakhs of crores of rupees to Self Help Groups, expanding storage capacity, creating employment opportunities for the youth within their own villages. Since 2014, more than 3 lakh new common service centres have been set up in the country. Since 2014, more than 6 lakh kilometres of optical fibre has been laid in the villages of the country. Since 2014, more than three crore houses have been built and given to the poor in the country. Out of these, more than 2.5 crore houses have been built in villages alone. In the past few years, several projects like more than 10 crore toilets, more than 1.5 lakh health and wellness centres, and thousands of new panchayat buildings in villages have given work and employment opportunities to lakhs of youngsters in the villages. Today, farm mechanization has developed rapidly in the agriculture sector. So, new employment opportunities are being created in the villages due to this as well.
Friends,
Today, the way India is hand holding its small-scale industries and promoting entrepreneurship ensures the creation of a large number of jobs. Recently Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has completed 8 years. In these 8 years, loans worth Rs 23 lakh crore have been given without bank guarantee under Mudra Yojana. Out of this, 70 percent of the loans have been given to women. This scheme has created 8 crore new entrepreneurs; that is, these are the people who have started their businesses for the first time with the help of Mudra Yojana. The success of Mudra Yojana has encouraged crores of people of the country for self-employment and has shown a new direction. And friends, I want to tell you one more thing. In these 8-9 years, we have seen the importance of micro finance in strengthening the economy at the grassroots level. Even the stalwarts who consider themselves to be big economists and the people who have the habit of giving loans to big business owners on the phone, never understood the power of micro finance before. Even today these people are mocking micro finance. They do not understand the potential of the common man of the country.
Friends,
I would like to specially give some suggestions to those who have received the appointment letters today. Some of you are joining the railways, while some are joining the education sector. Some people are getting the opportunity to offer their services to banks. This is your opportunity to contribute to the development of the country. The country will celebrate 100 years of independence in 2047 and is moving forward with the aim of becoming a developed India. And I know that your age today is the golden age  for you. In these 25 years of your life, the country is going to move forward at a very rapid pace and you are going to contribute to that journey. You can imagine that in such a wonderful period, with such a wonderful opportunity, today you are taking a new responsibility on your shoulders to take the country forward. Your every step and every moment of your time is going to be useful in making the country develop at a faster pace.
Today you may be starting your journey as a government employee. In this journey, one should always remember those things and always view yourself as the common man. For the last 5 years, 10 years, what did you feel as a citizen? Which behaviour of the government used to frustrate you? Which behaviour of the government did you like? You must also keep this in your mind that whatever bad experiences you have been through, you will not allow any of the citizens to go through that bad experience while you are serving. What has happened to you will not happen to anyone else because you are there; and this is a great service. Now it is your responsibility that after joining the government service, you fulfil those expectations of others. Make yourself fit. Each one of you can influence and inspire the life of a common man in one way or the other through your work. He can be saved from drowning in the pool of despair. Friends, what could be a greater work for humanity than this? You should try to ensure that your work has a positive impact and your work improves the life of a common man so that his confidence and trust in the government systems increase.
I have one more request to all of you. All of you have achieved this success through hard work. But don't let the learning process stop even after getting a government job. The willingness to know and learn something new will bring about a positive impact on both your work and personality. You can upgrade your skills by joining the online learning platform iGoT Karmayogi. And friends I always say and believe that 'never let your inner student die'. I never work with the illusion that I am a great scholar or I know everything or have learned everything. I don't have such an illusion. I always consider myself a student and try to learn from everyone. You also keep your inner student alive, keep trying to learn something new and this attitude will open up new doors of opportunities in your life.
Friends,
What could be better than celebrating this auspicious festival of Baisakhi and starting a new chapter of life at the same time. Once again, my best wishes to all of you for your bright future. Once again my heartiest congratulations to all of you!
DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered in Hindi.